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Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday declined to take a position on a controversial abortion bill that has yet to make it to his desk but which his office previously said he would veto.

The legislation would lift restrictions on coverage of abortions by Medicaid and state employee insurance. It also would change a provision in Illinois law that ties the state's abortion policy to the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that protected a woman's right to have an abortion.

Rauner said he was "meeting with advocates on both sides of the issues raised in the bill and I'm meeting with legislators who are advocates of both sides of those issues in the bill and we are listening to their points of view."

But the governor would not say whether he would sign the bill into law if lawmakers followed through and sent it to him. Rauner's office said in April that he would veto the legislation

Kelly: Rauner can't even get ahead of opposing the soda pop tax

William J. Kelly, Republican candidate for Governor, has issued this statement:

First, Rauner made Illinois a sanctuary state. This week, he said he wasn't sure he would veto HB 40, which expands taxpayer-funded abortions. Now even Michael Madigan is out ahead of Rauner on opposing Cook County's soda pop tax. As Governor in 2018, I will fight for Republican principles on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Not stupidity. Rauner has to go.

Kelly: Rauner dead wrong on sanctuary state bill, Amazon

William J. Kelly, Republican candidate for Illinois Governor is slamming Bruce Rauner's attempt to bring Amazon's second headquarters to St. Louis:

If Rauner spent half the time on the Amazon deal as he did to make Illinois a sanctuary state, people wouldn't be fleeing the state. As Governor in 2018, I promise to make Illinois a place people want to stay – not leave!

VIDEO: Meet Rauner's GOP opponents in the 2018 primary

KELLY-TRANCHANT: WE WILL DEFEAT RAUNER IN 2018

(Chicago, IL) September 7, 2017 - This week, William J. Kelly, Bruce Rauner's GOP opponent in the 2018 primary, announced his running mate, Ray Tranchant, a Danville-area resident and national immigration activist. In the video (above), Kelly says that the Kelly-Tranchant ticket is in it to win it. "This is not a race to send a message. The time to send a message has long since passed," Kelly says.

Kelly says that Rauner had promised to meet with families of loved ones killed by illegal immigrants to discuss SB 31, which makes Illinois a sanctuary state, but snubbed and disrespected them instead. "Now Governor Rauner, who signed SB 31 into law, is going to meet one of them - Ray Tranchant - on the campaign trail every day," says Kelly.

In March 2007, Tranchant's teenage daughter, Tessa, 16, was tragically killed by Alfredo Ramos, an illegal alien who was intoxicated and speeding. Her best friend, Allison Kunhardt, 17, was also killed in the deadly car crash. Tranchant has since become a national activist on the issue of illegal immigration.

"If elected, we will reverse decades of unfairness and discrimination against Illinois citizens - the middle class, the working class, and the poor. I will recall Rauner by defeating him in the 2018 GOP primary and repeal Illinois' sanctuary state status by executive order. As Governor, my first act will be to recognize the exclusive power of the President and Congress to make and enforce immigration law," says Kelly.

William J. Kelly is the host of "The Citizen Kelly Show," which airs daily on AM 1590 WCGO in Chicago. In 2014, Kelly busted the campaign finance caps in the Chicago mayoral race, forcing Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a historic run-off election. He is the founder of RevDigital, an Emmy award-winning TV and documentary company. He is a contributor to the Daily Caller and a columnist for Newsmax. He is a native of Chicago's South Side.